Here in Australia we've got a show called The Circle, which is kinda like The View. The other day they had George Negus, a journalist (some would say quite a respected one) on the show. They were talking about Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, who is a Victoria Cross recipient and had recently done an interview with a 60 Minutes type show. Now, Corporal Roberts-Smith is quite a buff (read: hot. Totally hot) young man and in the show there were some shots of him swimming.

During the conversation, Negus suggested that Roberts-Smith was bad at 'playing Scrabble', and one of the hosts, Yumi Stynes, said that he had to dive to the bottom of the pool to find his brain. The comments generated outrage, so Stynes issued a non-pology where she said, basically, "Yeah I said some silly things, all that proves is that I'm not perfect. Oh and by the way, I'm engaged!"

Not that it matters - it sounds like the rather repulsive "infotainment" blather that is so popular right now, where people are built up as celebrities, only so that the media can then rip them down, so that their audience can wallow in schadenfreude.

Negus's mistake about the rank is a way of showing that he really doesn't care about anyone's miltary honours, I presume.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

Not that it matters - it sounds like the rather repulsive "infotainment" blather that is so popular right now, where people are built up as celebrities, only so that the media can then rip them down, so that their audience can wallow in schadenfreude.

Negus's mistake about the rank is a way of showing that he really doesn't care about anyone's miltary honours, I presume.

What if this guy wasn't a "war hero"? Would it even be news?George is one of the greats. He gets a pass from me.

I don't know the people (I'm in the US), but I think the war hero bit is irrelevant too. Those comments would be petty and catty no matter who the people were saying them or who they were said about. Not that I haven't made my share of those type of comments. The celebrities were hardly showing themselves in the best light.

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Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.Walt Whitman

What if this guy wasn't a "war hero"? Would it even be news?George is one of the greats. He gets a pass from me.

I don't quite get that. If he were not known for anything, I doubt that your "great" would be commenting on him. But since he chose to comment, he was rude and vulgar about it.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

What if this guy wasn't a "war hero"? Would it even be news?George is one of the greats. He gets a pass from me.

I don't quite get that. If he were not known for anything, I doubt that your "great" would be commenting on him. But since he chose to comment, he was rude and vulgar about it.

I think it wasn't "if this guy wasn't known for anything" but rather "if this guy wasn't a war hero"? Presumably politicians, authors, actors, athletes and other people of interest are booked as guests on talk shows not only war heroes.

What if this guy wasn't a "war hero"? Would it even be news?George is one of the greats. He gets a pass from me.

I don't quite get that. If he were not known for anything, I doubt that your "great" would be commenting on him. But since he chose to comment, he was rude and vulgar about it.

I think it wasn't "if this guy wasn't known for anything" but rather "if this guy wasn't a war hero"? Presumably politicians, authors, actors, athletes and other people of interest are booked as guests on talk shows not only war heroes.

regardless on why they were doing a story on him the comments were rude. why on earth would this "reporter" be speculating about his amorous abilities? Was this a live show or taped? Did the program have the option of editing that out?

"War heros" are different from other celebrities. A singer has chosen a life that will, presumably, make them famous. They should be prepared for the criticisms that people offer, although even that, I think, should be limited primarily to their skills.

A soldier becomes a hero, usually, by being an average person placed in a horrible circumstance, and rising above that. There's no part of that equation where he or she should say, "Wait, if I rescue all my squadmates from certain death, I will have to face possibly being publicly humiliated on television. Do I really want to do this?"

And even if they were talking about the latest American (or Australian) Idol, there is no reason that they should be making snide personal remarks. It's not part of civilized life, but the media are quickly trying to remove civility from public discourse. And then wondering "Why are you common folk getting so much ruder these days? Just because WE do it doesn't mean that you should!"

Clearly, the people on the show were displaying their own "little" minds, rather than their subject's.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

It appears the apologies issued were the classic non-apologies - "Gosh, we're sorry if anyone was offended by our lighthearted banter (in other words, we're sorry you people out there have no sense of humour)".

To make things worse, it appears that in the original interview, it was mentioned that the Corporal has children conceived through in-vitro fertilization. So Mr. Negus made the "not up to it in the sack" comment regarding a couple who have had infertility issues. Classy.

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My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

It was incredibly poor taste to say those things about the man. Not only the comments about his sexual prowess and insinuating he has no intelligence, but Negus also pretend to be Ben making up chat up lines to the effect of 'Hello I'm ben, I kill people for a living'.

They do not have to like the military or particularly care for people who serve in it, but to make such obnoxious remarks is outrageous and unwarranted. Negus used to be a respected journalist, but in recent years it has become abundantly clear that he is not the man he once was.Someone being respected in their field is not enough to make it 'acceptable' for them to be rude, and I'm surprised to see such a thing suggested here.